Sent to Witness
Notes
Transcript
John - Sent to Witness wk 2
John - Sent to Witness wk 2
This morning we are going to continue in the Gospel of John in chapter 1 as we look at verse 6-13.
I have entitled this sermon Sent to Witness, in these eight verses we see John the Baptist come into the picture, but the apostle John only refers to him here as John.
We know by the description and who he is talking about here, that it is John the baptist, because John the Baptist is the forerunner of Jesus.
We are going to look at three things from our text this morning, that John the Baptist gives us here in the Gospel of John.
Let’s look at our text then we will dig into those three things.
6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.
8 He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.
9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,
13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Pray
Pray
I. Testify of the Light
I. Testify of the Light
6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.
8 He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.
Here we see that John was personally sent by God and he came as a witness.
A witness is any person having knowledge of truth willing to testify to that truth.
Therefore, John had knowledge of the truth of Jesus Christ and he was willing to testify of the truth of Jesus Christ, and he was sent by God to do exactly that.
John was to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.
In the the Gospel of John, when referring to the light, he is given a very important theme, and Jesus refers to Himself as the light of the world.
12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
In the very next chapter, Jesus once again mentions being the light of the world.
5 “While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”
The goal of John the Baptist’s witness here in chapter one is that all might believe.
The theme of believing, introduced here is without a doubt one of the most central concerns of the Gospel of John.
It is crucial to the apostle John’s purpose statement for writing the whole Gospel as seen in chapter 20:31.
31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
Which we will see further in connection with verse 12.
John the Baptist was not the light, but he came to testify or witness about the light that was coming shortly after him.
II. The True Light
II. The True Light
9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.
Right here in verse nine we are told that Jesus has come into the world, He has come as the true light and by coming into the world, He has enlightened every man.
Now what the apostle John was saying here is, that because Jesus has come into the world as the true light, and because God has sovereign power, meaning rules over everything, the entire universe.
With that every person has enough light to be responsible, that is God has planted His knowledge in people through general revelation in creation and conscience.
Because of the way that God has created us, and His creation on this earth, that people have enough light, enough Jesus in this world that they can come to the light, to faith in God.
Verse 10 tells us again as last week, that Jesus was in the world and that the world was made through Him.
We know from last week that Jesus was before creation, and was here during the creation of the earth, and His hand is in all of creation.
Even our own bodies are created with Jesus’ mark on them.
The molecule, Laminin is the protein that holds human beings together. The shape of it is a cross. God put us together, thinking a head in time and made the very thing that makes us think of Jesus, make us up and play a crucial role in how we are formed. God formed us to not only live as an image of Christ, but to never escape the fact that we are His! We are branded by the cross!
17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
But at the end of verse 10 there we are told that the world did not know Him, that is the world did not know Jesus.
Even today with all the technology, and all the resources we have the world still does not know Jesus.
At least some portion of the Bible, have been translated into 3,658 languages, with a total of 6,520 languages in the world.
The world’s population is 8 billion people, and in 2007 statistics said that around 30 million people died without ever hearing the gospel message of Jesus Christ.
According to our own International mission board, 59% of the world today is considered unreached - meaning Jesus is largely unknown among 4.6 Billion people.
The World does not know Jesus Christ but it is our job as Christians to share the gospel.
In verse 11 We are told that Jesus came to His own, and they did not receive Him.
Jesus was talking about the Jewish people here and even His own family as His brothers as we know His brother James did not believe He was the Messiah until after Jesus was raised from the dead.
But Billy Graham, on national television, once stated that he believed 85% of church attendees were on their way to hell.
Is Billy Graham wrong, well Jesus stated in Matthew 7:21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’
23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
That is Jesus’ own words there, see it is more than just a pray, it is about a relationship, it is about making Jesus Lord of your life.
III. Receive Him
III. Receive Him
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,
13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
In verse 11 we seen that Jesus’ own did not receive Him, they did not believe in Him as the Messiah.
But now here in verse 12, we are told that as many that did received Him, that is that did believe in Him He gave them the right to become children of God.
The apostle John is telling us here that there were many that did not believe in Jesus as the Messiah, the Savior, but there were others that did believe in Jesus as Messiah and Savior of their life.
And because they believed in the Name of Jesus as Lord and Savior of their life they became children of God.
God gave Jesus the name that is exalted above all other names, the name that salvation can only be found in.
12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
A person cannot find salvation in anything else but Jesus Christ, and He is the only way to Heaven.
It is only through Jesus Christ that a person can be called a child of God.
26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
In verse 13 we are told that we are born of God and not of flesh and blood or of the will of man.
This is telling us here that I cannot make you a Christian, you parents or grandparents cannot make you a Christian, it is only through the work of God Almighty in your life.
As Jesus says there is only one way to salvation and that is through Him.
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
Jesus tells us that no one can come to Him unless God the Father draws them to Him first, and we see that in John 6:44
44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.
Once God the Father draw a person to Jesus to believe in Jesus, it is then our responsibility to believe in Jesus, and believe that He is the Messiah, the Savior, that He did come born of a Virgin, live a perfect life, and then go freely to the cross for us to give His life as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins so that we can be forgiven and made righteous before God the Father, that He was placed in the grave, but then three days later, God the Father raised Him from the dead defeated sin and death gaining ultimate victory over satan, sin, and death, and now sits at the right hand of God the Father preparing a place for those that come to Him as Lord and Savior of their life for salvation and a personal relationship.
If you believe that today and have never received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior today is the day to accept the free gift of salvation.